Northeast Ohio leaders have realized we have lessons to learn from afar, as we face changing economic challenges at home, like sprawl and neglected urban assets and strategies. As our urban core, that Cleveland remain strong is essential to the millions of people in the region.

Thanks to Excellence Roundtable participant David Reed, of the Kent State Urban Design Collaborative, for arranging a very special instructor for this week's roundtable - former Mayor of Milwaukee and current President of the Congress for New Urbanism John Norquist will be our special guest for an Excellence Roundtable breakfast at the City Club - Thursday, September 15th, at 8 AM. Please note, there will not be an Excellent Roundtable lunch this Tuesday, as the Norquist breakfast is our collaboration for the week.

Join us for an awesome power breakfast discussion, which will consider:

Why is it always our traditional cities and towns, not our new communities, featured on postcards?

Why do we destroy efficient street grids and valuable urban fabric in cities to replace them with superhighways that concentrate traffic, increase congestion, and diminish property values?

If sprawl offers us such an unsatisfying environment, why do we build so much of it, especially when better alternatives exist?

Drawing from his experience as Mayor of Milwaukee and observations from around the world, Norquist builds the case for the enduring value of the urban form and for the Congress for the New Urbanism as a powerful force working to revitalize cities and towns and make mixed-use, walkable communities successful in today s marketplace.

John Norquist’s presentations on urban design and development have gained an avid national following. Building on themes first explored in his book, The Wealth of Cities, Norquist contrasts the beauty and logic of real cities and well-planned towns with the puzzling sprawl that dominates our current landscape. Covering topics ranging from transportation design to the intellectual movements that fueled sprawl, Join us to discuss these topics and others, at the 09.15.05 NEO Excellence Roundtable.

This will be a popular discussion - please RSVP ASAP - to confirm, please contact Norm Roulet at 216-534-1732 or norm [at] realinks [dot] us.

About the NEO Excellence Roundtable:

We're nurturing face to face visioning and so have revived a storied tradition of roundtable lunches at the City Club, each Tuesday between 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM, where non-hierarchical area innovation champions are breaking bread and brainstorming. The NEO Excellence Roundtable format is casual and conversational - to join us for lunch, please contact coordinator Norm Roulet at norm [at] realinks [dot] us. Each attendee is expected to pay for your own meal - if that is a barrier to you attending, please join us regardless and we'll cover the difference.

In the interest of supporting this open collaboration, we've also established a virtual Community Of Interest Link (COIL) called NEO Excellence - please visit at http://neoexcellence.realinks.us. To participate in the community, please "create an account" using the link found at the home page.

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